Local Walking Routes

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The Coleridge Way

The Coleridge Way Route Guide
Walk from the Quantock Hills to Exmoor, or vice versa (51 miles)
In the Footsteps of the Romantic Poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1772 -1834
Walk 51 miles through the stunning Somerset countryside of the Quantock Hills, the Brendon Hills and Exmoor, a landscape that inspired Coleridge to produce some of his best known work.
map of Coleridge Way

From Nether Stowey on the Quantock Hills, where Coleridge lived for three years, walk the quiet and unspoilt northern fringes of the Quantock Hills through the villages of Holford, West Quantoxhead and Bicknoller
the little known Brendon Hills through the villages of Monksilver, Roadwater and Luxborough, across Lype Hill to Wheddon Cross
the remote Exmoor moorland fringes of Dunkery Hill to the woodland village of Horner
visit Porlock and on to the Doone Valley and the East Lyn to reach the end of the route at Lynmouth
At Lynmouth the path links with the South West Coast Path National Trail. A delightful 30 mile circular walk can be made by walking from Porlock on the Coleridge Way to Lynmouth and returning along the coast path.
You will travel through a variety of landscapes: heathland, moorland, deciduous & coniferous woodland, farmland, deeply wooded valleys and historic villages with expansive views over to the North Somerset Coast and Wales. Every village has at least one pub to provide you with welcome refreshment. There are also a number of delightful tea rooms and village shops to visit.

The Coleridge Way can be completed over six consecutive days, making it ideal for an excellent walking holiday. The Route Guide will help you to plan the trip. Stay for a few days and enjoy the high quality bed and breakfast accommodation along the way, all offering a friendly welcome and some providing a baggage transfer service to make your break even more relaxing.

Links to other walks
Below is a table for the Route Sections. The route is quite a different experience in each direction. As Ruth who wrote the guides said referring to walking it the less traditional direction towards Nether Stowey "It's a completely different route heading from Lynmouth to Nether Stowey, away from the coast, across the moor, over the edge of the Quantocks and into rural, pastoral, gentle Nether-Stowey-land. There's a totally different focus and feeling, heading away from the busy open coastline into the secretive hinterland".

Each guide contains some words highlighted in bold purple - these are points of interest - all referred to in the ‘Things to Discover’ pages and selected ones in each direction have some additional info in boxes on the route guides.

For a longer walking holiday the Coleridge Way links up with the South West Coast Path and the West Somerset Coast Path, enabling you to walk beyond Lynmouth or to Watchet and on in the other direction.

For walks based on the South West Coast Path go to www.southwestcoastpath.com
For a choice of local circular walks and cycle rides go to www.westcountrywalks.co.uk
For a choice of Exmoor circular walks go to www.exploremoor.co.uk/car-free-walks/circular-walks